The quest on the Wing Fortress (fan chara warning)
by Lisa Echidna
Summary: An old fanfic written 1997-1999, which was never finished... It was suppoed to be an action Sonic fanfic, but I put a little too much of my character into it, so I've partly renamed it "another fan Character’s ego-trip." Enjoy.


"The quest on the Wing Fortress" Or "another fan Character's ego-trip."

This story was my first attempt to write a Sonic fanfic. I started on it 1997, back when I was 12 years old. Back then, I had NO IDEA how many sonic fan-characters there were on the net, and I guess I thought that my character was quite original. See, this story is sonic fanfic, no question about it, but it's also whole lot about my own character, Lisa Echidna.

I found this fanfic again on my hard drive sometime in '98, and decided to write some more on it. The most of this story was written '98-'99, and it turned out better than I expected, (the quality of the text changes throughout the story) but still, I never finished it. So now, it's January 2001, I find it yet again, and I've come to realize – I will not finish this fanfic. Why? Well, for starters, there's just TOO MUCH about my fan-character, Lisa Echidna. Myself, as a pure 'hog-fan, I admit that I like fanfics much better if there are no fan-characters in them, or at least, if there are fan characters I know about. But needless to say, this fanfic turned out just as one of those ego-fanfics I usually sigh over. Sure, there's a good amount of Sonic in here, and yes, it's all on Mobius, no 'super special mega emeralds' be discovered, and only ONE fan character, but STILL… It's all one big ego-trip.

I'm gonna end this lil' rant with a quote from a friend of mine, Magnus Andersson (used without permission, I might add… ^_^):

"If all those fan characters in fanfics and so on actually existed on Mobius, many of them would starve to death, because there wouldn't be enough food for everyone."

This Fan-fic was written 1997 – 2001 by Lisa M, AKA Lisa Echidna. 

The text from the original fanfic starts here:

________________________________

Hi! This is Lisa Echidna with my first Sonic fanfic!

This story was meant to be based on the sonic games and such... but I suppose it's

a mix of the segasonicverse and some kind of alternative reality.

Robotnik, though, is the same as in the DiC/Archie version.

Mecha-Sonic in this story is used with some different nicknames;

"Mecha-Sonic", "metal Sonic", "Metalla", and sometimes just "Mecha". 

Since metalla is a robot, by no specified gender, I'll just call him/her - "it".

Confusing? Never mind, you'll see ^_^

If you have any comments about my story, please send them to sonicelisabet@hotmail.com

Lisa Echidna is my character, if you want to use her, PLEASE ASK FOR MY PERMISSION FIRST!

DON'T FORGET;

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MILES PROWER, KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA AND

ALL RELATED CHARACTERS ARE © BY SEGA!!!

Now, let's get on with it!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART ONE.

It was a windy day at the floating island.

Knuckles the Echidna was out for a walk in the marble garden zone.

He was daydreaming. He thought about his people. 

He had never really met anyone of his kind.

They all disappeared when Knuckles still was very young.

Knuckles had always taken care of himself, 

no one had ever cared about him.

Sometimes he wondered where they d' all go. 

When Knuckles was still a kid, 

someone told him that echidnas also could live on the ground.

But he didn't believe in that anymore.

Suddenly, the cliff under he's feet fell apart, 

and he got back to reality.

He grabbed a wall, just as the cliff crumbled,

and sighed with relief.

"Well, he trought, If there ARE other echidnas, 

they've got to be careful when they're visiting MY island!" 

He felt sad for a moment.

"But there are no other echidnas..." 

he trought while he was going back to the hidden palace zone.

But Knuckles was wrong.... 

_______________________________

Down on Mobius, Sonic the hedgehog was racing against Tails.

"Hey, Sonic! I think you are cheating!!" 

Tails yelled to his friend

Sonic, who was up in his top speed for the moment, 

slowed down and asked:

"Why do you think that?" he smiled.

"Because you know this zone better than I do, 

and you know all the short cuts!" Tails yelled back.

"Hey, why are you yelling? I'm right here!" Sonic said and Tails 

discovered that Sonic suddenly was right next to him.

"Hm-hm, very funny!" Tails said, sulking little.

"Hey, come on! I'm just kidding!" Sonic smiled again.

Tails was a little more happier.

"I bet I'm faster than you in the Aqua ruins!!" 

Tails smiled at his friend.

"Hey, come on Tails! You KNOW that zone!" 

said Sonic and he thought about the last time he had been there.

"Right!" Tails laughed.

"Okay, but don't you blame me if I drown!" said Sonic and put his 

hands around the neck and started acting like he was losing air.

The two of them laughed and started to race to the Aqua ruins.

They had just got there, and were just about to start, 

when they heard a noise.

Sonic looked around.

"WHO'S THERE?!" he yelled, but there was no answer.

"I could swear that I heard something..." Tails said.

Just in that moment, an echidna girl entered the ruins.

"OUT OF MY WAY!!" she yelled, as she ran past them, 

shoving Tails out of her way.

"Hey, cool down! What are you doing here? 

Don't you know this place could be dangerous?"

Sonic tapped his foot, while he asked the questions

"I CAN SWIM, you know!" said the echidna angrirly.

"And if this REALLY is such a 'dangerous place'..." 

she made a pause to catch her breath "..what are YOU doing here?"

"You could say that we are training" Sonic said "And this is different. 

I know this place like my own....."

He scratched his head "...sneakers." he finished.

"Er?" the echidna seemed confused, then shook her head. 

"No, you guys are too weird." She started walk away, 

but suddenly, she turned around and asked; 

"Oh,.. does any of you know where I can find the floating isle?"

Sonic was very suprised.

"How do you know about the floating island? 

Isn't that supposed to be a secret?"

"I don't know. But can you now PLEASE tell me how I get there?" 

the echidna started to act like she was in hurry.

"I don't know if I can do that... It is a secret, 

I don't know if I can tell anyone about it..." 

Sonic said, a little confused.

"Come on, now! I am an echidna, right? I BELONG to that island!" 

the echidna begged.

Sonic sighed.

"Okay, here you go." Sonic threw a map to her. 

"It will show you the way to a warper" he explained.

The Echidna looked at the map and she smiled.

"Thanks! I hope we will meet each other again sometime..." 

with that as finishing words, she disappeared in the ruins.

"Okay," said tails "let's race!"

*ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Sonic and Tails zoomed away exactly at the same time, 

leaving a trail of dust after them.

Sonic was behind Tails, because he didn't want to get wet.

Tails, who hardly touched the ground by using his tails, 

laughed out loud at Sonic.

But suddenly, the laugh stopped.

"What is it?" asked Sonic.

"Sonic," Tails said.

"Yeah?" Sonic answered.

"I trought Knuckles was the last of his kind...?"

"Well, I guess he IS, little buddy."

"But that girl we met..."

"WAITASECOND!" Sonic shouted.

He stopped very suddenly, but he didn't look WHERE he had stopped.

--*SPLASH!!*--

Sonic fell right in the water.

"GLUB! Tails! Help me!!!"

Sonic tried to get up but there was something pulling him down.

"Sonic! grab my hand!" Tails tried to get the grip of Sonic's hand, 

but when that didn't seem to work, he started to scream for help.

"SOMEONE! HELP!"

Tails saw Sonic's hand disappear in the water.

But then, something strange happened.

It started to glow with a green color in the water, 

it faded out, and started glow red.

Tails saw Sonic come up of the water.

"W-what happened?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know" said Tails, totally shocked. 

"I didn't knew you could swim."

"I can't..." 

Sonic interrupted himself when he saw the purple echidna girl.

She was standing on a hill, and she held a green emerald in her hand.

The emerald glowed, just like the water.

She seemed to be in some kind of trance.

Her dreadlocks were moving in the wind.

Everything was quiet....

So, suddenly, she fell to the ground.

_______________________________

A couple of hours later, in Sonic's place, 

the echidna girl was about to wake up.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You are in our base!" said Tails answered.

"B-base?" 

Sonic came in to the room.

"Hey, you never told us your name!" Sonic said.

The echidna looked up.

"Uh? My name? How did I get here?"

"You were out cold. We had to bring you here." explained Sonic.

"Oh,... I see..." 

"...Your name." Tails reminded.

"My name... is Lisa." She said.

"You saved my life.... didn't you?" Sonic asked.

"Maybe I did.. But that was nothing...." Lisa said, smiling.

"That emerald you got around your neck... 

Is that a chaos emerald?" asked Tails.

"No. It's almost a chaos emerald, but it's not as powerful, 

and you'll have to learn how to control it."

While Lisa explained this to Tails, she held the emerald in her hand, 

and the emerald glowed again.

"Wait a minute... I can't stay here! I've got to go to the floating island!"

She got out of bed in one second.

"What for?" Sonic asked.

"To get help!" she answered.

"Help? What's wrong?" 

"I can't explain it to you. It's something about the echidnas...."

"We can help you!" said Tails.

"No... It's not YOUR problem..." Lisa suddenly interrupted herself.

The emerald had stopped glowing.

"No! Not now! I need the emerald so badly!"

"What's happening with the emerald?" Sonic asked.

"It seems to run out of power." said Lisa.

"Is there any way we can reload it?" asked Tails.

"I don't know... I will need something quite powerful..." said Lisa.

"Golden rings!!!"

"What?"

"We can use the golden rings!" Tails explained. 

"The power should be enough to reload the emerald."

"Why not? Let's do it!" said Sonic.

"But how...?" before Lisa had finished the sentence, 

Sonic was out in the emerald hill to getting the rings and back again.

Tails stopped the time-watch just when sonic got back trough the door.

"WOW! New record!" laughed Tails.

Sonic placed the 50 rings on the table.

"Now... let's see... Lisa, can I borrow the emerald?"

Lisa thought about it for a moment.

"Okay" she said. "Here." 

Sonic took the emerald and put it on the table together with the rings.

The rings started to glow, and so did the emerald.

"I think it is WORKING!!" Lisa yelled.

a few seconds later the emerald was glowing in a gentle limegreen color.

"Well, I think it's time for me to leave now..." said Lisa.

She headed for the door, but then turned around and said;

"Oh, and Sonic.. I'm sorry about what I said to you guys when we first met..."

"That's okay" said Sonic.

When Lisa had gone, Tails asked:

"Sonic, are we going to follow her?"

Sonic smiled a big smile.

"Ofcourse!" he said.

______________________________

Later that day, Lisa entered the floating island.

It wasn't easy to get there, she had to get trough 

the some rough terrain, but when she finally found the warper, 

she had gone right to the island.

Via the warper, she found herself in a Casino area, 

and now there she was.

"OK, I came from THAT direction..." She thought, trying to find a way out.

Atleast, I THINK so...the warper should be THAT way..."

She sighed.

"I'm lost."

Lisa looked around, still clueless where to go.

Then she heard a humming sound, like a generator.

She walked towards the direction the sound came from, 

hoping to find it's source.

Walking aroud the next corner, she found it.

A glass tube, filled with a yellow glow met her eye. 

The generator underneath the tube was making the sound.

Curious, Lisa walked closer. 

She touched the glass tube. 

Nothing happened. She leaned closer to get a better look what was inside.

She could tell it was a creature.

"Hello..?" she said uncertainly, knocking at the glass tube.

A few seconds passed, then the tube suddenly slid open.

In there was a red echidna with a stern face.

He was looking straight at Lisa.

Knuckles.

Lisa's eyes widened.

"W-who are you?"

The echidna didn't answer. He leaped at Lisa, knocking her unconcius.

When Lisa woke up in the forest later, 

her emerald was gone.

She tried to remember what had happened. 

She felt unprotected without her emerald.

"I couldn't have lost it... someone's taken it from me!" 

she spoke to herself.

So, suddenly, it came back to her.

-A red echidna...

______________________________

Knuckles was very suprised when Sonic and Tails showed up on the 

island. He entered Ice cap zone right on time to see Sonic and 

Tails walk out of the warper.

"What are YOU guys doing here?" he asked.

"We... are just here for a short visit!" said Sonic.

"Right!" said Tails.

"I told you to not come to this island just for fun!" said Knuckles. 

"The floating island must stay a secret."

He looked at Sonic.

"I don't want trouble."

Sonic shook his head, he always felt a bit shaky when the echidna was around.

"Of course not." He looked around.

"Can we... Take a walk on the island?"

He wasn't really expecting Knuckles to buy this, 

but to his suprise he heard the red echidna say:

"OK... As long as you keep your hands away from the emerald.

Remember, if you try anything, just a teeny-weeny little trick, 

I'll personally make sure you won't even be able to WALK away from here.

But alright, Sonic. You have my permission."

"Whoa, thanks, Knux! "said Sonic.

"You are welcome." Knuckles looked at the warper. 

"Are you sure that no one else followed you?"

"I'm sure."

"TOTALLY?"

"Totally."

"Okay... well... just remember what I said!"

Sonic zoomed away, and Tails flew after him.

"Short visit, Eh?" Knuckles said, most of all to himself.

Knuckles turned around.

"Are you already back? Okay, Sonic. What's the problem?"

But something was not right.

Sonic was looking at him with red glowing eyes..

"Sonic...?"

Suddenly without any warning, Sonic hit Knuckles.

Knuckles fell backwards by the strength in the hit.

"Ouff! What the--! Why did you do that?!" 

But Knuckles got no answer.

Knuckles was about to get up, when Sonic hit him the second time.

This time the strength in the hit was so powerful that 

Knuckles was thrown away towards a cliff.

Dazed, he looked up at Sonic.

"I will get you for this, hedgehog...." he said feebly.

Then, his head slumped to his chest.

Sonic started laughing- with a metallic voice.

_______________________________

In the meantime, while all this happened, an evil man 

was sitting in his Wing fortress.

He laughed, and his voice was deep and metallic.

His name was Robotnik. Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

He could watch everything that had happened on the island 

via spy cameras. His eyes were fixed on the screen, 

and in his hand he held a lime green emerald, glowing green in the dark.

"I am going to rule this planet.... and there is nothing 

those fools can do about it." he spoke to himself.

A Sonic- looking creature entered the room.

"Transform to normal mode" 

The creature transformed into Mecha- Sonic.

"Mecha Sonic, you completed your mission?" asked Robotnik.

"Yes, master. Knuckles believed that I was the real Sonic" 

Mecha- Sonic answered.

"Very well... Mecha- Knuckles?

Another robot, looking like Knuckles, stepped out of the light.

"Mecha Knuckles, go and place this emerald somewhere were the 

girl will find it. She may need it for her revenge."

"As you wish, master." said the robot with a metallic voice.

"Now, there is just one person left to trick...." Robotnik smiled. 

"Sonic the hedgehog."

________________________________

Sonic and Tails zoomed across the Hydrocity zone.

"I HATE this place!" said Sonic, running on the water with 

his ultra-water speed.

"Hey, Sonic!!" said Tails "Wait for me!!"

Sonic slowed down a little.

"Do you think Knuckles have met Lisa yet?" asked Tails.

"I have no idea. This island is pretty huge..."

said Sonic.

"I guess so... But what does Lisa need help with?"

"I have no idea, little buddy..."

________________________________

Mecha- Knuckles had already placed the emerald in the center of 

the jungle, and now he was in the Hydrocity zone, 

looking for Sonic.

Suddenly, he heard something.

It sounded like when a fast moto-boat crossing the waves.

But is was no moto-boat.

It was Sonic.

"Activate Knuckles- mode" the robot said, and in one moment, 

he was a total copy Knuckles.

When Sonic saw the robot, he slowed in, as he belived that 

it was Knuckles.

"Hi, Knuckles! How did you got here that fast? Ofcourse, 

you know all the shortcuts on this island..."

Knuckles didn't answer him. 

"Hey, Knuckles? You don't look that happy. Is anything wrong?" 

Knuckles didn't answer the question, he just pulled a bar, 

and secret trap-door opened under Sonic's feet. 

Sonic couldn't do a thing. 

"KNUCKLEEEEEEEEES!!" Sonic screamed as he fell.

Mecha- Knuckles turned back to it's original form and reported 

everything to Robotnik.

"Well done," Robotnik replied, "Get back to the HQ."

Then, a plash was heard from the water.

"What was that?" asked Robotnik in the radio

Mecha- Knuckles turned around to see Tails come up of the water.

"A spy." the robot said.

"Catch him and get him here!!" said Robotnik.

Tails desperatley tried to escape the moment he noticed he had been spotted,

but Mecha-Knuckles pushed on a button on his arm,

and suddenly, was Tails trapped in a cage of laser.

"This is not cool..." Tails thought to himself.

________________________________

"How could it end up here?" Lisa thought when she found 

the emerald in Angel island zone. 

"The red echidna most've lost it here."

With the emerald back, Lisa felt how the power of the 

emerald filled her once again.

And she thought;

"I'm not finished with you yet, red!"

________________________________

Knuckles slowly woke up.

He had a terrible headache.

"Oh, boy... You can never trust a hedgehog, 

...and now I know that...." 

Knuckles spoke to himself.

"I got to go to the Hidden palace!" he thought.

He got back on his feet, and started to run trough a shortcut 

with only one thing on his mind;

Revenge.

________________________________

Sonic fell deeper down the hole, 

until he crashed to the ground.

"No broken legs..." he thought to himself, 

as he managed to stand up. "Did... Knuckles do this?" 

he wondered. "It could've been none other."

Sonic suddenly felt that his right wrist hurted. 

"Maybe it will pass..." he thought. 

He started to walk down the tunnel, 

and when he reached the end of it, 

he found himself in a big chamber, with no way out.

"Just great. I'm TRAPPED!" Sonic sat down to rest a little.

"If I could get out the same way that I got in..." 

Sonic stood up. "Then I'll just have to turn around!" 

Sonic turned around to find the way out to the tunnel, 

but it wasn't there. "What the-?! Where is the exit??" 

Sonic yelled. Suddenly, he heard a noise. 

It sounded like.... water?

The next second, the walls opened up, 

and water started to flood in.

"Yikes..." Sonic thought.

________________________________

Knuckles was on his way to the hidden palace when he heard it.

The sound of flooding water.

He pressed his head against the ground. 

"I'd better check this out..." he thought.

Knuckles pulled a hidden lever disguised as a limb,

and a secret way to the underground regions opened at his feet.

He was just about to step down the hole, 

when he heard the familiar noise again. Water.

Knuckles gasped. The next second, he was striked 

down by all the water.

Knuckles tumbled around. He swimmed towards the surface, 

but wasn't able to get there, cause' suddenly he was 

striked down a second time by Sonic, 

who came trough the tunnel in super speed.

Knuckles saw his chance, he grabbed Sonic's arm and 

dragged him up the the surface.

Sonic coughed and looked at Knuckles with an angry look on his face.

"You...!" Sonic didn't seem to be glad to see Knuckles att all,

even if he just had saved Sonic's life. 

Knuckles looked at Sonic with the same look in his eyes.

"No... YOU!" 

Knuckles and Sonic looked at each other for a moment.

Then Knuckles tried to hit Sonic, but Sonic ducked and 

made a spin, which knocked Knuckles off his feet. 

Knuckles fast back up on his feet to 

attack Sonic with a dash.

Sonic were just about to attack Knuckles a second time, 

but suddenly he felt that his wrist hurted. 

He decided to ignore it, but then he got a terribe head-ache.

Like all his energy had been sucked out of him. 

Sonic tried to focus, but it was hopeless. 

He couldn't see clearly. He couldn't even stand on his feet.

Knuckles saw his chance. With a quite hard punch, 

Sonic fell to the ground.

Knuckles looked down at Sonic. 

"I didn't want to do this, but you started it..." 

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SONIC?!?"

Knuckles turned around.

Lisa stood there with green-glowing eyes, 

and the emerald in her hand.

Knuckles looked at her with his mouth wide open.

"You're... an echidna?" Knuckles asked, very shocked.

"Yeah. And you are in deep trouble." 

Lisa sent an elecric ray on Knuckles.

The ray hit Knuckles chest. The power made him fall backwards.

Knuckles suddenly realized that he had no support behind the neck.

He looked backwards to find himself at the edge of the isle.

It was about ten miles down to the ground from there. 

Knuckles gasped.

Lisa was so furious that she didn't even seem to understand 

what she was doing.

She shot at Knuckles again, this time he fell down the edge, 

but managed to grab a cliff in the very last second.

Knuckles looked up at Lisa. She look in his eyes expressed fear.

Lisa looked back. 

She knew this wasn't right. But she couldn't care.

She closed her eyes and squeezed the emerald as hard as she could.

A pure ray of light from the heart of the emerald hit Knuckles.

Knuckles lost his grip. Lisa sat down, as she heard the eccho of 

Knuckles' scream fade out. She looked at her hands. 

They were trembling. She looked down the edge, but there

was no sign of the guardian. "I wasn't alone after all..."

________________________________

Dr. Robotnik sat in his fortress. He laughed.

"Lisa did a great job... Maybe she could work for me?"

He watched the screen. Mecha-Sonic came in.

"I BELIEVE SHE KNOWS WHERE THE EMERALD CHAMBER IS." 

he said with a metallic voice.

Robotnik looked at him. 

"What!? Where? Do you think you could squeeze that 

information out of her, Metalla?"

The robot's eyes was glowing red in the dark.

"My pleasure, sir."

________________________________

Back on the island, Lisa tried to wake Sonic.

She shook him, yelled at him, but nothing semeed to work.

When she couldn't think of nothing better, 

she threw some water on him. It gave effect. 

Sonic jumped up, screaming and kicking.

"NO WAY YOU'LL BEAT ME THIS TIME, KNUCKLES!!"

Lisa had to duck to not get knocked down too.

When Sonic came to sense, Lisa told him what've happened.

She wasn't very proud of what she had done, 

and neither was Sonic.

"I cannot believe that Knuckles acctually would HURT anyone,

...I mean, he's a guardian, and...."

suddenly Lisa interrupted him:

"GUARDIAN?!? That guy was a guardian??"

"Yep. And as far as I know, he was the last of his kind.

...but not anymore."

Lisa sank to the ground.

"Oh, man...... It's bad enough I killed one of my own kind...

..but now I am the only one..."

Sonic was very suprised.

"Wait a sec..! What about your parents?? Don't you have any family??"

Lisa looked down on the ground.

"No. I never had a family. I've never really met anyone of my kind.."

They just sat there, none of them said anything.

Then, Lisa spoke again.

"I came to this island to find my relatives... 

instead, I ruined my last hope."

A small tear fell down from the echidna's eye.

She buried her head in her hands. 

"I... *sniff* never wanted it to be like this... 

I don't know what made me do that... I...."

Sonic had nothing to say. He just stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, quietly. A few seconds passed, 

then she screamed it out loud:

"I'M SORRY!! WHATEVER I'VE DONE, I'M SORRY!!"

Sonic grabbed her arm. "Lisa! If Robotnik IS on the floating island, 

he might hear us!!" Lisa looked into Sonic's eyes, 

her eyes were filled with tears.

"What does it matter?!? There is nothing left to protect! NOTHING!!"

Sonic shook his head. 

"Lisa, what about this island? What about Tails? And the emeralds?"

"NOTHING MATTERS! NOT ANYMORE! WHAT ARE THE EMERALDS WORTH, 

IF THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO WATCH THEIR BEAUTY, 

AND TO CONTROL THEIR LIMITLESS POWER?!?"

"But what about Tails?"

Lisa looked a bit confused for a moment.

She were just about to answer, when the ground started to shake.

"What is going on?!" asked Lisa.

"Problem." Sonic answered. 

He knew that it only could be Dr. Robotnik.

________________________________

Tails didn't quite understand where he was when

he woke up. After a second look, he realized that he was

locked in at Robotnik's headquarters. 

Tails started to explore the cell. The walls was made of

a material that didn't seem to be breakable.

The floor on the other hand, was soft, and could 

possible be made of some kind of plastic material.

"But what for?" he thought.

It didn't seem to be any resonable explaination,

so he leaned against the cell door.

He heard a noise from the door when it opened up.

Tails sneaked out, not too suprised.

"Robotnik don't even know how to lock a cell door?"

he thought, while he searched for the exit.

________________________________

Sonic saw the robots first. He yelled to Lisa, but she ignored him.

"Lisa, we gotta get away from here! They're too many!"

Lisa still didn't listen to Sonic. 

As a matter of fact, she started to walk towards the robots like 

she was going to give up.

"Lisa!! What the heck are you doing?!!" 

Sonic ran towards Lisa to pick her up, but the robots shot at him,

and Sonic had to hide in the bushes. Sonic thought;

"If I can crawl close enough, maybe I can grab her and get out of here!"

But before Sonic could act, Mecha-Sonic flew over Lisa and picked her up.

"LISA!" Sonic screamed. He streched his arm after Lisa, 

as Metalla carried her away in the sky. 

A small tear ran down Lisa's cheek, she waved to him, and then she was gone.

Sonic made a spin-dash to finish the rest of the robots off, 

then he ran after Metalla.

PART ONE COMPLETED.

PART TWO.

Metalla put Lisa down at the entrance of Robotnik's HQ,

Then it grabbed her arm and dragged her into the building.

Lisa didn't think the company was that nice, 

but she tried to start a conversation with the robot.

"So, the boss wants to see me, eh?"

"YES." Metalla answered with his deep metallic voice.

Silence felt a few minutes, as they walked down the hall.

"Excuse me for asking, but were you once an animal just like me,

or were you built like this?" Lisa said, 

trying once again to back up a conversation.

"I WAS BUILT THIS WAY, TO SERVE MASTER ROBOTNIK AS 

THE ROBOTIC VERSION OF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG."

the robot replied, without showing any signs of annoyance.

"Erm, so... you got his speed and all that..?"

"NO. THE DOCTOR WAS ONLY ABLE TO RE-CREATE A PART OF ALL 

THE ABILITIES OF SONIC HEDGEHOG."

"How did he do that?"

"HE USED BIOLOGICAL DATA."

"Which means..?"

"THAT-- YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW!"

Lisa was surprised to see the robot laugh at it's joke...

As a matter of fact, she was surprised to see it laugh at all.

But then, Metalla shook it's head and started some kind of a 

re-programming process. 

"PROGRAMMING COMPLETE." Metalla said after about

two minutes.

"What happened?" Lisa asked.

"DOCTOR ROBOTNIK SCANNED SONIC'S BIO-DATA TO CREATE THIS UNIT.

THE PROGRAMMING SOMEHOW, ISN'T TOTALLY PERFECT."

"WANNA KNOW SOMETHING?" the robot whispered to Lisa.

"Sure" Lisa said.

"THIS PROGRAMMING SUCKS!"

They both laughed, then they were interrupted by one of

Metalla's "programming attacks", but Metalla simply hit itself

in the head, and continued to laugh.

"So, I guess you got some of Sonic's personality also?"

"I WOULD THINK SO IF I WAS ABLE TO TO THINK FOR MYSELF..."

"But you DO think for yourself, don't you? I mean, 

you are telling me jokes, you have opinions about things...

No programming process can deny that!"

"WELL, I...--BEEEP!-- NO MORE SMALLTALK! 

LET'S GET GOING, PRISONER!!"

Mecha-Sonic had suddenly turned back to the heartless creature

he was created to be.

Lisa felt sorry for the robot. It sure HAD it's own feelings, 

it just wasn't able to use them.

After a while, they reached Robotnik's monitor room, 

where the doctor in person sat, waiting for them.

"REMEMBER TO BEHAVE WELL WHEN THE ALMIGHTY DOCTOR ROBOTNIK

IS PRESENT." Mecha-Sonic said to Lisa.

Lisa smiled. She whispered:

"The programming SURE do suck..."

Metalla couldn't help itself, it started to giggle,

but it stopped immediately when Robotnik's red-glowing eyes

stared back at it from the dark room.

"Well done, Metalla." the doctor said. 

"Now bring the girl over here. I need to see if she really is 

the one I believe she is."

Lisa refused to take even one step towards Robotnik.

Robotnik looked at Mecha-Sonic and nodded in Lisa's 

direction. Metalla nodded back. It took a painful grip around 

Lisa's wrist and dragged her to a spot on the floor where

she was surrounded by beam-light.

"Now..." Robotnik snickered, "Tell me your name."

"WHY SHOULD I?!!" Lisa responded in an angry tone.

The doctor sighed.

"Because-..." Metalla revealed it's laser rifle, and aimed at Lisa.

Robotnik smiled. "I guess that speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

Lisa looked down on the floor and folded her hands.

"My name is Lisa Echidna." she said.

Robotnik arose from his chair and started to walk around Lisa in a 

circle, smiling an awful smile showing all his teeth.

"Very well... Then.... do you know what THIS is?"

Robotnik picked up an emerald, identical with Lisa's.

Lisa looked at her own emerald.

"This emerald is fake!"

"That's right. My plan worked exactly as I thought!"

Lisa gasped. "What plan? This looks like a cliché!"

"I knew you had mysterious powers, Lisa. 

That's why I let you defeat my worst enemies."

Lisa looked up. "But I didn't finish Sonic..?"

"That blue little creep is alive?!" Robotnik yelled, furious.

"N-NO!" Lisa yelled. "He.. he's gone as well."

"YOU'RE LYING." Metalla suddenly said, 

"OBJECT: SONIC--- *BEEP* FOUND."

Robotnik walked towards the Robot.

"And--?"

Metalla started another research.

"LIFE PULSE-- POSITIVE."

Robotnik glared at Lisa to watch her reaction.

Lisa just swallowed.

"That proves it. You were lying to save him."

Robotnik turned to Mecha again.

"Take her to a cell. Not too close to the other prisoner.

"ER... SURE, MASTER. BY THE WAY, THERE IS SOMETHING YOU 

MIGHT WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE OTHER PRISONER..."

"What?"

"HE... ESCAPED."

________________________________

In that moment, Sonic the hedgehog slowed down below the 

wing fortress.

"(Now, how do I get up there?)"

, he thought, while he scratched his head.

Suddenly, Sonic's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"SONIC!! I've looked everywhere to find you!!"

"Tails, is that you??!"

The two-tailed fox came running out of the woods, 

very happy to see his hero.

"(Well, that explains my question!)" Sonic thought, happily.

"Sonic, I'm afraid I have some bad news" Tails said after

he had reached Sonic.

"What is it, little bud?" 

"I think Robotnik is up to something no-good."

"Heh, you're not the only one with those thoughts!"

"It's worse than that! Robotnik have created

two robots which can turn into either you or Knuckles!"

"SAY WHAT?!"

Tails jumped up and down, excited.

"I saw 'em! To be exact, I saw you, 

but it really wasn't you!"

Sonic said nothing, he seemed to think about

something, but then he shook the thought away.

Tails looked around.

"Where's Lisa? And Knuckles?"

Sonic sighed sadly. 

Tails just looked at him.

"Lisa were captured by Metal Sonic..."

When Sonic didn't make any signs to continue, Tails filled in:

"And what happened to Knuckles?"

"Well... I... accidentally ended up in a fight with him and..."

The fox still waited for an answer.

"He fell over the edge."

________________________________

Vector put another wooden stick into the bonfire

as he tried to get things straight.

"Sonic attacked you twice, and then sum' echidna 

girl tried ta' kill ya? Sorry Knux, but it sounds more like 

you've lived alone here for a little too long!"

Knuckles was very angry. 

"It's true!! Although I never thought the blue blur would

do something like that, he did!"

"It's not just that I don't like Sonic, but that thing about

another echidna-- Knux, I know you told me yourself,

'The echidna is a dying race'...there are no other echidnas than you!"

Espio looked into the bonfire, looking upset.

"Myself, I've never trusted that Sonic guy..." he said, with a low voice.

"Come on, Espio! I know Sonic, and I doubt he 

would do something like that." Mighty said, getting everyone's attention. 

"But..." he continued, "..I agree with Vector. 

I don't think either that any other echidna exist."

"It's TRUE!! Don't ANY of you believe me?!"

Knuckles said angrily.

The Chaotix looked skeptical at him.

"Vector's right... yer going nuts." Espio replied.

Knuckles went wild and were almost about to strangle Espio. 

"STOP THAT!! STOP NOW!! I KNOW WHAT I SAW!! I AM NOT CRAZY!"

Mighty, who was the strongest member of the team, 

had to lift Knuckles of the ground before he finally calmed down.

"OK, OK, we'll check it out!" said Mighty,

who was very tired of Knuckles' talk about other echidnas.

"Then you guys believe me?"

"We'll see about that. We believe it when we see it."

Knuckles smiled. "Let's GO!"

_______________________________

As Mecha was escorting Lisa to the prison cell, 

Lisa tried to convince the robot that it didn't HAVE to be evil.

"Listen, Metalla... do you really like being treated like

a jerk all the time? Do you ever think that there just 

might be something better out there for you? Just think of it..."

"SILENCE." the robot replied.

Lisa was quiet for a few seconds. All that was heard was the 

echoes of their walk down the empty hall.

Lisa peeked at Metalla. Still no reaction.

She started to sing, very quietly. The robot didn't seem to mind.

She raised her voice. Metalla closed it's eyes, then opened them, 

and closed them again. It seemed like it started a research by some

reason. After awhile, Lisa stopped singing.

Metalla looked at her. "I RECOGNIZE THAT SONG."

Lisa looked back, little surprised.

"You do?"

"YES. UNABLE TO IDENTIFY WHERE FROM, THOUGH."

"Oh. It's one of my favorite songs, you see."

"COULD YOU SING ANOTHER ONE?"

"Why, sure!" Lisa smiled.

_______________________________

"UN-BELIEVABLE!" Vector said, when they discovered Robotnik's 

great fortress up in the sky.

Knuckles looked at him with disgust.

"PUH-LEEZE!! You sound like that guy from the fifth element!"

"No way! WHO do I sound like then?!!"

"You know, that movie, the fifth element... Ruby Rod..."

"Oh yeah... I remember now... I DON'T SOUND LIKE HIM!!"

"Oh, yeah, you do!"

"Oh, no I DON'T!"

"You do!"

"I don't."

"SHUT UP." Espio interrupted.

"We're here to investigate, nothing else." Charmy filled in.

"Hey! Charmy! Where did you come from?!"

"The moon? It's pretty easy to sneak into this group without

getting noticed.."

"Yeah, especially when you're only about one feet tall!" Vector laughed.

Knuckles hit Vector so he tipped over.

"Shut up, man. OK, Charm, what did you see?"

"A lot of robots, and they look mean!"

"So Robotnik's really here?"

"Of course, who did you think Knux??"

Knuckles were just about to say 'the purple echidna',

but he changed his mind and just stood there without saying a word.

Espio smiled an annoying grin; he knew what Knux thought about.

"I see..." he teased, and Knuckles looked angrily at him.

Suddenly a loud sound were heard, and a fast tornado swept by, 

knocking The Chaotix off their feet.

"YO!! BLUE GUY!!" Vector screamed.

"Hey!" Sonic turned back and stopped at the Chaotix.

"I've never been so humiliated..." Espio mumbled, 

as he arose from the ground. Charmy had gotten smashed into a tree, 

and he wasn't in a good mood either. Knux just stared at Sonic.

Mighty was the only one who looked happy 

about Sonic's arrival.

"Hi blue blur! Long time no see!" he greeted Sonic.

"Hey, Mighty-guy! What are you doin' here?"

Knuckles stepped into the conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys..." he glared at Sonic 

"...But we have some records to get straight here."

"I'll say..!" Sonic stared at Knuckles "I thought you were dead!"

"Nice try hedgehog, but fortunately, I have friends here who

just happened to save me in the nick of time."

Sonic looked around. "Have you seen Lisa?"

"I thought she was with you!?"

"HOLD IT!" Vector yelled, 

"Are you talking about Knux' lil' 'secret friend'??"

"Lisa is real!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah, right, and where is she now?" Espio asked with a sarcastic grin.

"Mecha-Sonic took her away." Sonic said.

"Oh, so there's at least something good about all this?" Knuckles said,

his arms were folded, and he looked at Sonic as if he could answer

all his questions. Sonic was furious.

"...ANY GOOD?! SHE'S AT OUR SIDE!!"

"Haven't noticed that..." 

Knuckles took one step towards Sonic, who felt a little uncomfortable.

Knuckles stared at Sonic. "I wanna know what's going on.

Who is Lisa? What is she doing here?! Why was she trying to kill me!?!"

Knuckles raised his voice as he spoke, and at the end of the sentence,

he almost screamed. Sonic shook his head.

"She didn't mean to hurt you! She was only trying to protect you, promise!

She said she was here to find her family... that must be you..."

Knuckles nodded slowly, but he wouldn't let the hedgehog out 

of his grip just yet.

"--And?"

"Um, well... she came here with an emerald...

she said something about she was the only one..."

"You're so stupid... you really fell for that trick?!

That girl swept me off the island for cryin' out loud!!"

"Oh yeah? Well, Dr. R had no problem tricking you either when he

first came here, redhead!"

Knuckles were about to punch Sonic, but Mighty held him back.

"Lisa is no bad guy, Knux! She saved Sonic's life!"

Tails interrupted.

"I don't trust that girl." Espio said.

"HAH! Just a couple of minutes ago you said she didn't even exist!"

Sonic smiled at Espio.

"I also have my right to change opinion... and in this case,

I wouldn't either trust you OR that female echidna."

"Espio, it seems like you don't trust anyone!" said Mighty

"I only trust those who have proven themselves." Espio answered.

"Then, how do I prove myself?" Sonic sighed.

"Heh. Bet you can't do that. I wouldn't believe you, anyway."

"Come on, guys. Lisa isn't the real threat here.

We all know Robotnik's behind it!" Mighty said,

trying to get everyone's attention.

"Bet she's a spy..." Espio grumbled.

_______________________________

Lisa glared at Metalla.

"I'll hate myself for this..."

Before the robot could react, Lisa grabbed an

old pipe, held on to it, swung herself up in the air,

and kicked Metalla in it's head, causing the robot to fall.

Metalla lay on the floor, electric sparkles all over, 

totally helpless. He had fallen on a magnetic field.

Lisa regret her action, this wasn't what she thought would happen.

She didn't know what to do; her plan was to only stun the robot,

not harm it in any way.

Lisa looked at it. Metalla was now shaking,

it rolled it's eyes and the transmitter had broken, along with

a plate on it's head. Lisa swallowed and took a few steps back

at the unpleasant way Metalla looked with wires sticking out

of it's head.

The robot looked at Lisa stretching it's hands after her, 

with a look on it's metallic face that was begging for her help.

Lisa wanted to help the robot, but she knew if she got

any closer, she would get an electric shock that would be so 

powerful there was no guarantee she would survive.

Metalla spoke.

"PLEASE...HELP.... ME...."

Lisa's eyes watered up at the sight.

"PLEASE...H.... HELP...."

Lisa was totally clueless. What should she do?

Help the robot, and supposedly die herself,

or run away while she had the chance?

To her relief, she heard footsteps down the hall.

"(Robots!! They will help Metalla!)" Lisa thought.

She ran off, as the footsteps weren't far behind.

A few seconds later, three of Robotnik's finest 

robots arrived at the place Lisa had left Metalla.

One of the robots started a research on Metalla's

life pulse. A couple of minutes later, the robot

was finished and said calmly:

"UNIT NOT USEFUL. LIFE PULSE TOO WEAK TO EVEN BE

CONSIDERED AS ALIVE. LEAVE TO TRASH. 

REPORT TO THE DOCTOR ABOUT THE PRISONERS ESCAPE."

The two others nodded.

"UNDERSTOOD."

Two of them went to Robotnik's control room,

and the lead robot left to seek Lisa.

_______________________________

The gang was looking at the sky fortress from their spot on the ground.

"I can take you guys there,

but I can only carry on at the time"

"Uh, what about the Tornado?" Mighty asked and looked at Sonic.

"We got here through the warper, so we didn't bring the plane

...And the way back is blocked now, as far as I can see..."

Knuckles almost fainted. "Are you saying,

you will not be able to get back unless we get that thing down

with a big bang?!"

Sonic shrugged. "Guess so."

Espio jumped down from the tree. 

"Tails, let's get to work. We gotta get that thing outta here."

Vector smiled. "How come you started to act so heroic all of sudden?"

Espio replied, whispering:

"Because, if we ain't getting that fortress down,

the traitors will have to stay here!!"

Vector shook his head.

"Yo, man, ya are too suspicious! I mean, come on!!

Those can't be that bad! Mighty is hanging out wit' 'em!"

Espio still looked skeptical.

"I don't trust them. Mighty may be strong, but

admit he isn't that clever all the time!"

"How can ya say that! You aren't a genius yourself!!"

"Hmph. At least, I'm more careful to choose friends"

"YEAH, right...."

Tails still looked confused.

"Maybe I'll just fly Sonic there for starters..."

"And let the two of you off the hook?! NO WAY!!"

Knuckles and Espio stared at Sonic and Tails with a 

"what-are-you-crazy?!"-look on their faces.

Sonic sighed. "Come on guys, we mean no harm, you know that!"

Mighty nodded. "Yeah, this is no time for arguing!

something must be done, if you don't trust Sonic, then let me

go up there!! You do trust me, right..?"

The Chaotix didn't say a word.

"...Right...? Guys?"

Espio answered him, with a uncertain voice:

"Well... Mighty... you know..."

"Come on guys! What's wrong?!"

"Eeeeh, well..."

"Don't say you don't trust me just because I 

hang out with Sonic?!"

Knuckles just stared at the ground.

"Geez! I can't believe you!" Mighty said, shocked.

Knuckles sighed. "OK, that settles it." 

The others looked surprised at him.

"I'll go first. And Tails won't have to fly me back, 

I can glide down from there myself."

Vector looked like he was going to say something, 

but Knuckles interrupted.

"I'll go ALONE."

The others just stared at Knuckles when he walked over to Tails.

"Let's go."

_______________________________

Lisa ran. She ran fast.

"(No way they'll get me alive!!)" she thought.

They were behind her. She knew it.

She threw herself into a tunnel in the wall, and kept on crawling.

"(Isn't there a way to get out of here?!)"

Suddenly, she stopped. Electric wires were all over the tunnel.

There was no way out. She heard them come after her.

"(DAMN, What am I supposed to do now!?)" 

She thought of something, but wiped the thought away.

It was too risky. The emerald was sparkling. So full of power.

"(Maybe I can use it only this time..?)" she thought as she 

heard the robots coming closer.

The sound from their sensors was heard from somewhere near.

"(OK, That does it!)"

She closed her eyes, she could feel the energy sparkle around her.

A second passed, and it went all white.

________________________________

It wasn't that Knuckles was scared of heights, 

he just didn't like the environment.

Everything seemed to be made of metal.

Metal floor, metal walls, metal roof. No windows. 

Tails had dropped him off at the deck where he had to face

a robot squad almost immediately after he had landed.

Luckily for Knuckles, the robots weren't very well 

programmed for combat at all. 

He had no problem at all destroying them.

The hall he now entered was dark and chilly.

He heard noises from the air duct, 

which he couldn't clearly identify.

"(Probably rats,)" he thought.

After he had walked for awhile, 

he heard the sound of metal feet tapping against the floor. 

Knuckles sneaked into the shadows and pushed his back against the wall

so they couldn't see him.

When the robots came around the corner, 

all three of them started to scan the area for living beings.

Knuckles was so afraid they'd see him, 

that he stopped to breathe for a moment.

The robots had finished the research. 

They stood still for a couple of seconds, then continued their walk.

Knuckles was relieved, but he didn't want to move anywhere 

until he knew for certain that they were gone.

He heard the echo of their footsteps fade in the dark.

He sighed with relief and jumped out of the shadows.

That's when he heard it again. The noises from the air duct. 

Only, this time, it sounded like it was next to him.

Or even right behind him.

_______________________________

"Hey, big guy!" Sonic shouted happily when

Tails returned. The fox waved back.

Sonic sure was happy Tails finally came back.

The rest of the Chaotix felt difficult about having

Sonic there. Except Mighty, of course... 

The two of them had begun to talk about previous adventures,

but Vector just HAD to interrupt their 

Conversation in every way he could, with phrases like 

"Doncha' think Tails is taking a little TOO long, Mighty?"

, while he kept looking at Sonic in a disliking way.

While Vector was plane annoying, Espio had another way of

tick Sonic off, namely, just sitting there and stare at him,

without moving a finger. 

Sonic didn't think Vector as a problem, he was, kind of, 

easier to just pretend he wasn't there, but Espio's

way to stare at him without any expression at all, 

made the hedgehog feel a bit uneasy.

Charmy wasn't a real threat, he just sat in a tree and

threw tiny rocks on the ground, that sometimes, maybe a little 

too often, hit Sonic's head. the first 20 times, Sonic had

turned around angrily and glared at Charmy, who had a brilliant

phrase ready: "Oops, sorry.". But after several "Oops:es" later,

Sonic didn't care anymore. With all these stuff going on, 

Neither sonic or Might felt like talking, so Tails arrival

was more than welcome.

"Hi guys!" the fox laughed as he landed.

Sonic walked over to him, and smiled.

"One echidna delivered! No sign of Lisa?"

Tails shook his head.

"Nope."

"Yo, who's next?!" Vector said, a bit annoyed.

"Uhh... well..." Tails looked somewhat confused,

as he looked around the group.

"AHEM!" Sonic said. None of the Chaotix reacted, except Mighty.

"I said AHEM!!" Sonic repeated.

"Yea, whut izzit, spikeball?!" Vector asked, angrily.

"Doncha think it's my turn next?"

"Nu-huh."

"Oh, and why is that?!"

"B'cause ol' Espy here iz next!"

"Oh, really?!"

"Oh yeah, REALLY."

Sonic and Vector stared at each other mostly annoyed.

"Stuff it, both of ya!!" Mighty suddenly called out.

"No way, Mighty-man! It's MY TURN next!" Espio said.

Tails sighed.

________________________________

Suddenly the lights went off.

"OooOOooF!"

"OUCH!"

Lisa felt she crashed into someone when she fell

out of the air duct. She rubbed her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

"Oh, my!"

Knuckles looked back up at her, though he couldn't see her clearly.

"Ey, getoff my back!"

"Um, sure, sorry."

Lisa jumped up on her feet.

Knuckles eyes hadn't gotten adjusted to the dark yet.

"Uuh, who're you??" he asked, confused.

Lisa saw Knuckles clearly, since she had been in the dark air duct for

awhile. His dreadlocks, his gloves with the spiked knuckles,

his metal plated shoes, all the details were totally clear to her.

Knuckles, on the other hand, couldn't see a thing, other that it 

was a female in front of him.

"You don't recognize me?"

"Not really. It's awfully dark in here...."

"Uh, you promise you won't beat me down if I told ya..?"

"No.... unless you are Robotnik ofcourse!" Knuckles laughed.

"Heh, well I'm not... but I think you wanna beat me down anyway."

"Oh well, who are you?"

"Heh...I kinda' threw ya off the island earlier... I'm sorry..."

"HEY!! YOU...! Lisa, huh? Don't try any trix on me again!"

"I won't, I promise! What happened was an accident!"

She paused for a second. "How did you know my name?"

"Sonic told me!"

"Is Sonic OK?"

"Yeah, he's OK."

Lisa revealed a smile.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"What are YOU doing here?!" Knuckles asked back.

"I was kidnapped by Metalla!"

"Yeah, SURE..." Knuckles had gotten adjusted to the dark now,

so he could see Lisa clearly,

that reminded him that she was an echidna just like him.

"Hey..." Knuckles never ended the sentence, because suddenly the 

wing fortress started to shake.

"How do we get outta here?!" Lisa asked.

"We don't, atleast not until I've beaten Dr. Eggman!!" Knuckles

answered, with triumph in his voice.

"Eggman..?"

"Yeah, that's what we call ol' Robotnik!"

"Robotnik, huh? I'm in!"

Knuckles was about to say something, but was interrupted as 

the fortress shook again.

"Whaaat?" Lisa said

"Never mind" Knuckles answered. "Let's GO!"

_______________________________

After several fights, Vector convinced most of them that Espio should go.

Or rather, Mighty, Sonic and Tails had enough of the Chaotix'

stubbornness, and all three of them, especially Sonic, thought that maybe

they'd calm down if things turned out as they wanted.

Mighty walked over to Espio to try to convince him one more time.

But Espio didn't answer Mighty's prayers. 

He turned to him and said one single word;

"Traitor." he pronounced it in a cold way, this scared Mighty.

Mighty watched Tails and Espio as they flew away, 

their silhouettes faded away at the distance.

Mighty sighed. Sonic tapped him on his back, and Mighty turned around.

"Be cool, Mighty-man. He'll be back." Sonic said, 

trying to cheer his friend up.

Mighty nodded, but he couldn't help feeling as he had lost a friend.

Sonic could sense this, but he didn't say anything.

Charmy was no where to be seen.

_______________________________

"GOOD IDEA!!" Knuckles sarcasically yelled to Lisa, 

as they were dodging from the blaster robot's laser shots.

It was her idea to take the left way at the end of the hallway...

an idea which later proved to be a very bad one.

Knuckles looked at Lisa, what if she had led him there on purpose?

"WHAAAT?!!" Lisa answered, and Knuckles realized that she panicked just 

as much as he, when she ran stumbling through the hall.

Suddenly they had to stop. They had reached a dead end!

Lisa's eyes widened. "Yikes..."

Knuckles was angry, he hit the metal wall again and again, 

but of course, - it gave no effect. 

Knuckles noticed Lisa was staring at the floor.

"You are not gonna cry, now are you?!!" he suddenly snapped out.

Lisa glared at him in a mad way. "I'm not crying! I'm just thinking."

Knuckles suddenly realized Lisa's emerald was glowing.

"Hey, what's up with your emerald?" he asked.

Lisa looked at the emerald and looked frightened.

"It's nothing. Nothing at all." she hid the emerald behind her back.

The light from it seemed somehow to glow through her.

"Lisa...?"

"It's NOTHING, I told you!!"

"But..."

"SHUT UP! I know what's happening! But it ain't gonna do us any good!"

"EXCUSE ME, little lady, but if that emerald can help us, I..."

"It won't help us!! IT WON'T HELP US!"

"You don't know until you try!"

"I know that if I try do to magic, it'll ruin it all!!"

"RUIN WHAT!"

Lisa could never response, the next second the robots following them

had already arrived, and they were surrounded.

"GO AWAY!!" Lisa shouted. She was never scared of Metalla, 

he - or she (hard to know) was, in a way, more human. 

These robots weren't programmed to separate right or wrong,

they simply shot anything 'living' in their way. 

Those were their orders. They were machines.

That's why Lisa felt so uncomfortable.

Knuckles attacked one of them by swinging his fist into the 

robots' head. Normally, this would have been enough to destroy

the robots skull, but instead, an electric force hit Knuckles'

left arm. The guardian stood there for a moment, 

shocked without really knowing what just happened, until he 

felt the horrible pain borrowing through his arm. 

He fell backwards and was lying on the floor, 

covering his arm the best he could. 

But he wasn't going to show how much it hurt.

He were just lying there, 

with a neutral face and his eyes closed.

No, no way he'd show his pain. 

Inside of him, he screamed.

Lisa ran over to Knuckles. 

She discovered he was hit pretty bad.

She turned her head around slowly, and looked at the robots.

Then she looked at her emerald.

She looked back at the robots again.

Back at the emerald.

No matter how much it would hurt, she had made her decision.

________________________________

Espio were wandering around in the corridors.

He were passing through prison cells, 

control rooms, and robot guards of all sorts.

No problem. After all - he was a chameleon.

He decided to wait for the others, 

so he sat down to watch a couple of guards in front of him.

They were carrying a trashed robot to the

garbage room on the fortress.

Espio thought nothing much about it.

He yawned.

________________________________

Tails had returned the 2:nd time to pick up

a passenger. The fight had already begun.

"Come on, Vector! Don't be silly!!"

"It's no silly about me goin'!!"

"Sonic should've gone the last time already!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

Sonic himself yawned at Vector and Mighty arguing.

Sure, he was worried about Lisa and Knux - 

but this fight had gotten a bit out of hand.

"Guys..."

No effect.

"guys?"

Still no effect.

"GUYS!!!" 

Mighty and vector interrupted themselves and 

realized Sonic was there.

"Yea, whut'z now, blueberry???" Vector asked.

Sonic sighed:

"Would you two please stop arguing!"

"I'm just tryin' ta make my point!"

Vector said.

Tails was resting in front of a tree,

he closed his eyes.

Sonic looked at his exhausted buddy.

"Hey..." 

He looked at Charmy.

"Can't you carry someone?"

Charmy snorted.

"Not on my own. I'm too small!"

"What if you two helped each other, then?"

"What? Me and Tails?"

"Yeah."

Charmy thought about it for a minute.

"Well, I doubt the kid could carry

that big croc on his own..." Charmy smiled.

"What do you say, big guy?" Sonic asked Tails.

"Hmrm...?" the fox mumbled.

Charmy flew down at Tails right ear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREE YOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU

REAAAAAAADYYYYYYY TOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOO??!!!!"

Charmy yelled right into Tails ear.

Tails sat up real fast.

"What?? Who?? Me! Ofcourse!!"

Tails was still a little sleepy, but having help

by Charmy to carry people sure helped.

In no time the rest of the Chaotix, as well as Sonic and Tails,

were at the wing fortress.

"O-KAY!! Let's rumble!!" Sonic called out, excited.

"Uh, do we even know where to go?!" Vector asked.

Tails and Charmy shook their heads. Mighty shrugged.

Sonic did the same. "Rats."

________________________________

It all happened so fast. Like in a blur.

It was like she had been watching herself from above.

Without having any part of it.

Her whole world was dizzy, she wanted to rest. 

Yet, she kept going. And going. And going.

Yes, those laser shots could've hurt her.

Yes, Knuckles could be dead by now.

Who knows, maybe both Lisa and Knuckles were really dead?

What if all this was just a dream?

No pain. No fear. No thinking.

Just her instincts.

She was carrying the guardian through the fortress.

If a robot showed up, the emerald quickly made them a shield.

Or maybe it was just her imagination.

It was hard to tell. It was so dark.....

________________________________

Sonic sped through the air duct. 

Tails, Vector, Mighty and Charmy were behind him.

Sometimes, when he got too far from the others,

he had to speed down a bit so they could keep up.

"Where does this air duct lead??" Tails yelled at Sonic.

"I don't know!" Sonic yelled back, 

"But I've got a feeling we are there soon!"

"You sure?"

"Not really..."

The humming from large machines were heard.

"Well, well, well...! Didn't I tell ya??"

Sonic saw light coming from an exit.

He jumped out first, then helped the others to get out too.

When they were sure no one was missing, 

they started to find out where they were.

"EEEK!! A ROBOT!" Tails screamed.

"Cool down buddy, it's out of function." Sonic said, calmly.

"Just as this one." Charmy found another trashed robot.

"Hmmm... There's lots of trashed robots here..."

"...And lots of other junk." Vector added.

"The garbage dump! Just my luck!" Sonic called out.

Mighty took a walk around the area.

There were indeed many trashed robots there...

Suddenly he caught something interesting in the corner of his eye.

"Sonic, come over here, QUICK!!"

Sonic ran over to Mighty.

"Look!"

Sonic looked at... himself. It was Metalla lying there.

"Good lord, I didn't know Metalla had turned into scrap metal!"

Metalla looked worse than he had looked when Lisa left him.

More wires were sticking out of his head,

the blue metal he was made out of had taken a lot of 

hits when he was thrown down here, and he now looked very beaten up.

"Whoa..." Sonic thought, "(That could've been me...)"

He turned to Mighty again.

"Do you think we can use this hunka junk?"

"Let's give it a try."

Mighty used his strength to release the robot from the

heavy metal pieces covering it.

"O-kay! Thank you Mighty! Now where is our mechanic?"

Sonic asked, looking for his two-tailed fox friend.

"You called?" Tails flew over to the two of them.

He gasped when he saw Mecca-Sonic. 

"Wow..." Tails said, "Last time I saw 'im, he threw me

into a prison cell!!"

"Think you can make something outta it?"

"I'll try." Tails smiled.

________________________________

When Mecha-Knuckles had found Lisa and Knuckles,

both of them had been very weak.

Knuckles was very sick, the blast from the robot rifle earlier

was more serious than any of them could imagine.

At first, he couldn't move his left arm, which had been hit.

Then, it worsened. He couldn't move any of his arms, 

and it didn't take long until the guardian was totally helpless.

All he could do was watch and listen.

Lisa had tried to get him out of the fortress, 

and she used up all the power of the emerald in her search for the exit.

The emerald, which used to be gentle green, was now blood red.

It was glowing stronger than before in the dark hall, 

kinda making the walls of the hall look blood red as well.

This is how Mecha-Knuckles had found them;

Knuckles, in a horrible pain without being able to move,

Lisa sitting by his side, touching his forehead trying to ease his pain,

with no avail.

She had no expression of her face. Maybe, if you looked real close, 

you could see a hint of sadness in her lime green eyes.

When Mecha-Knuckles arrived, she had just nodded slowly.

________________________________

"Tails, are you sure you know what you are doing?"

Sonic asked his friend.

"Don't worry, If I did this right,

Metalla should be just as friendly as a..."

He thought about it for a minute.

"...Honey bee." he ended the sentence.

"HEY! I ain't always this friendly!"

Charmy said angrily.

"Heh heh heh, Especially not in the Saturday mornings!!"

Vector said, both him and Mighty laughing.

Charmy sulked.

Suddenly Tails interrupted himself in his work.

"What's wrong, bro?" Sonic asked.

"I need a new XG-B2ZETA chip..." the fox sighed and showed a

trashed computer chip he had found inside Metalla's trashed circuits.

"What is it for?"

"It's an energy chip, it makes the main unit function faster, 

which...."

"In a nutshell...?"

"This chip makes Metalla go on without having to change 'batteries'."

"Sounds like something that could be in Vector's Walkman!"

Mighty said.

"Yeah!" Charmy filled in; "I've never seen Vec change batteries on his

Walkman either!"

Vector realized everyone was staring at him.

"Nu-huh!! Nonononononoooooo... Ya aren't touchin' my Walkman,

Y'all hear that??!"

Vector took a grip around his Walkman and backed a few steps.

"This is MY PROPERTY! Ya aren't takin' it from me..."

Sonic zoomed through and took it from him.

"Hey! Givvit' back!!"

Tails looked in the battery input.

Just as they suspected, the XG-B2ZETA chip was there instead.

Tails took the chip and inserted it into Metalla's neck,

then he did some adjustments, just to be sure everything would

work as planned. He took a big sigh.

"Okay, gang... here goes nothing...."

He turned the switch 'on'.

_________________________________

Lisa woke up in a big metal chair. 

She tried to remember how she got there.

"(I... tried to help the... *COUCH* guardian....)"

Lisa was still dizzy, and she couldn't move.

"(The guardian... the... guardian....)" She tried to remember.

Just thinking hurt her mind.

"He... He is hurt! I've got to..." she tried to move, 

but received an electric shock instead. She felt so dizzy, 

but it didn't really matter. Only the guardian mattered.

"I must... get out... why...? I feel so empty..."

She felt what was missing. The emerald. Her emerald. 

The one around her neck wasn't hers. It could never be.

The blood red light still made her feel weird.

After awhile, she managed to adjust her eyes to the light.

She saw him. Knuckles. The Guardian.

He was tied up in a chair just like she was.

But he was dying. She wasn't. At least not yet.

He wasn't moving at all. He didn't try to break free.

Lisa doubted he knew where he was. 

Knuckles did not appear as the strong echidna she had met in

the hall. He was injured badly. His arms and legs seemed numb.

As a matter of fact, the red color on his arms and legs had

started to change into a purple tone.

She felt sick. She searched for his eyes, she wanted a life sign.

But even his eyes were numb.

"Knuckles." she said, quietly. She wanted him to live.

Knuckles still seemed so lifeless to her.

"Knuckles... Don't do this... 

...I don't want to be the only one left..."

Knuckles still didn't move.

Lisa was still watching him.

"Never wanted to be the only... echidna..."

She looked at his eyes. But she couldn't see into them.

Never before she had hated silence as much as now.

But... didn't she see Knuckles' eyebrow move a little?

He blinked.

She couldn't believe it!

"Knuckles...?"

He blinked again.

"Two blinks for 'yes', one blink for 'No'?"

Knuckles blinked two times.

She smiled. 

________________________________

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

Metalla rushed through the garbage room, 

causing the Chaotix to jump aside.

"Just see what happens when you demolish the croc's

Walkman! nothin' but biiig trouble!!" Vector said.

"WATCH OUT!!" 

Sonic sped towards metalla, who hadn't got an idea to stop.

Tails closed his eyes.

**CRASH!**

Sonic's voice was heard behind a hip of scrap.

"OKAY, Mr. Troublemaker! Time to pay!"

Soon another sound was heard from Sonic:

"OOF!"

When Tails got there to see what happened, 

he saw Metalla holding a grip around Sonic's

neck. But instead of pointing his laser rifle at Tails,

Mecha-Sonic yelled:

"STOP! I MEAN NO HARM. PLEASE DO NOT HURT ME."

"I won't hurt you, if you promise to not hurt my

buddy in return. Do we have a deal?"

"IF I RELEASE YOUR FRIEND, HE WILL TRY TO DESTROY ME."

"You were the one who tried to destroy him!"

"NOT ON PURPOSE. MY LAST ORDERS WERE 'SHOOT AND KILL'"

"You don't follow those orders anymore... Am I right?"

"YES, IT'S TRUE. I DON'T. I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE DOING

THAT ANYMORE."

"Then, would you mind letting my pal go...?"

Sonic's face was almost as blue as his quills at this

point of the conversation.

"ER... SURE. SORRY."

He let Sonic go of his grip, and Sonic fell down on the ground

gasping for air.

"WHOA!! I'd rather drown at the Aqua Ruins than letting

Mecha 'accidentally' strangle me!!"

"LIKE I SAID, I'M SORRY."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that line doesn't really suit you,

to be honest, Metal."

"I MEAN NO HARM"

"You said that."

"DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?"

"Hmm... You still tried to strangle me 5 seconds ago,

so I still have my doubts about you."

"MY LAST ORDERS WERE..."

"...Shoot and kill. I know."

"...." Metalla had no comment.

"So," said Tails, "What do we do now?"

He turned to Mecha.

"Would you like to join us?

That was the main reason we rebuilt you."

Mecha-Sonic thought about it for a second. 

Help the freedom fighters?

That'd make him a traitor. 

But, on the other hand, why help Robotnik?

Mecca nodded.

"ALRIGHT."

"Cool!" Tails exclaimed.

Vector looked up behind the scrap hill.

"Yo, iz he dangerous??"

"NO, NOT ANYMORE."

The robot's sudden reply made the crocodile fall 

backward by surprise.

"Whoa, cool." Vector said, Charmy and Mighty helping him up.

_______________________________

Suddenly the doors opened up and Robotnik stormed in, 

with a couple of guard bots at his side.

"Release the prisoners." he ordered.

Lisa and Knuckles blinked surprised at the sudden light in the room.

As the guards were marching in Knuckles' direction, 

Robotnik raised his hand, and pointed at Lisa.

"Start with this one. And keep an eye on her, 

so she won't play any tricks."

The robots nodded in unison and walked over to Lisa.

They released her from the metal chair and put 

handcuffs on her wrists, then dragged her to the main door 

in the middle of the room.

Robotnik turned around and looked at Knuckles.

"I think I'll deal with you later, guardian."

Knuckles must've realized they were taking Lisa somewhere, 

his eyes were wide and he looked worried, although it was 

hard to tell because he couldn't move his body at all now.

Lisa was so weak, that she didn't struggle.

Any protest from her side would make the robots angry, 

and she didn't want that.

"(I'd better save my powers until they're really needed.)"

she thought. She looked at Knuckles just before the door closed.

And there she was. 

Without having any idea what would happen to her now.

________________________________

Espio woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"(Whoa. I must've fallen asleep. Very embarrassing.)"

he thought, while he looked around to find the source 

of the sound that had woken him up. 

He stood up, stretching his back.

"(Hmm, I wonder what happened to the others?)"

Just then, Espio heard a rasping noise from a hole in the wall.

It was actually the same hole where he had seen 

the guardbots throw the trashed robot earlier. 

It led to the trash room. Without knowing this, Espio

stuck his head in to explore, only to be knocked down by Sonic, 

coming zooming out of the hole.

"Espy! Glad to see you!" Sonic yelled.

Espio stood up again. 

"Hmph. Yeah, sorry I can't say the same, hedgehog."

"Come on, Espy, I didn't do it on purpose!"

Before Espio could respond, the rest of the Chaotix,

as well as Tails, arrived.

"Yo!" Vector called out when he saw Espio, 

"I thought you were lost!"

Espio shook his head. 

"If I'd suddenly 'disappear' you'd know THAT'd be on purpose."

He glared at Sonic.

"The chameleon have spoken!" Charmy laughed.

Just then, Mecha-Sonic entered through the garbage dump.

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" Espio yelled, "WHAT THE HECK..?!!"

"Cool down, Espio! It's only Metalla!"

"I can see that! What is HE doing here?!"

"We kinda' turned him to our side." Tails smiled.

Metalla tried to smile, although it wasn't easy since he 

didn't have a mouth, only a voice transmitter.

"HI."

Espio almost fainted.

________________________________

Before him, Knuckles saw nothing but dark.

He felt like he was trapped.

Trapped in his own body.

No one would come looking for him.

What had really happened? 

Ah. Yes. 

Now he remembered.

It had been in the hall. They had reached the end of it.

Robots had surrounded Lisa and him.

He had been injured. Badly injured, it was to be proved.

Lisa wasn't whimpering, as he thought she would.

He saw a hint of fear in her eyes, but that's all.

That fear had been replaced with anger and hate towards

the robots, their master Robotnik, and this very fortress.

She had used the emerald's power.

After the robots were knocked down, she also had 

tried to heal Knuckles.

He had told her not to bother, but she was stubborn.

However, the emerald didn't do anything good to 

Knuckles' wound. 

Nothing happened, and this made her stressed.

Especially since it got worse. The wound expanded itself,

affecting his entire body.

Lisa did not give up. She carried him around the fortress,

desperately looking for an exit. 

It couldn't have been easy for her, he thought. 

She was smaller than he was, and not as strong. 

The power of the emerald had been protecting them as a shield,

but it also drained the power out of Lisa.

And Knuckles' wound got worse and worse.

They didn't find their way out in time.

When the emerald was drained, so was Lisa.

Knuckles remembered the last thing he said before he 

lost the ability to speak:

"At least, we tried." 

Instead of protesting, Lisa had silently nodded.

Then it hadn't taken long before Mecha-Knuckles showed up.

And now here he was. Alone.

He had heard the robots when they carried Lisa away,

just minutes ago.

But he couldn't do a thing to help her. 

He couldn't move.

He couldn't see.

He could barely hear.

Soon, everything would be too late.

________________________________

"THIS WAY," Metalla said.

Sonic, Tails, Mighty, Vector, Charmy and Espio 

followed the robot through the corridors.

Wing fortress was like a giant maze. 

Every hall looked exactly the same. 

Good thing for Sonic and pals, Metalla had the entire 

fortress's map programmed in his head.

"NOW LEFT" Metalla said, walking inside a new hall.

The others followed.

"Hey, Sonic! How do we know we can trust this robot? 

He might as well be leading us into a trap!"

Mighty whispered to Sonic. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me YOU're gonna start too!"

"Start WHAT?"

"Being suspicious."

"Come on Sonic... he is a robot."

"Oh, yeah, well... Tails knows what he's doing!"

"How do you know he knew what he was doing this time?"

"Because... Tails KNOWS that he knows what he is doing."

"Why..."

"BECAUSE HE'S DAMN GOOD AT WHAT HE'S DOIN'!!"

Sonic blurted out. Mighty looked at him, quietly.

"Sorry," Sonic said, "I didn't mean to yell.

I'm just so nervous, that's all."

"No problem, Sonikku-san." Mighty said, smiling.

Mecha-Sonic stopped.

"THE WAY UP TO THE MAIN CONTROL ROOMS IS BEHIND THIS DOOR."

Mecha said. Sonic walked up to discover the door was locked.

It was made of the same un-breakable material as the 

walls in Tails' cell. The fox wasn't late to point this out.

"I don't think I can break this door guys..."

Mighty had barely ended the sentence, when Mecha put it's 

hand on the ID-check, causing the door to open.

"Hey..!" Sonic looked impressed.

If Metalla could smile, he would at this moment.

"MECHA-SONIC, EMPLOYEE AT THE WING FORTRESS, AT YOUR SERVICE!!"

it laughed.

"Cool!" Sonic exclaimed as the group moved in.

"Hey, Metalla! What are those blinking things up in the roof?"

"SPY CAMERAS. ANY IDEAS?"

Tails laughed "Congratulations, Mecha! You just captured

Sonic the hedgehog and all his crew!!"

"WHAT?" Mecha seemed confused.

"YEAH! Good idea, Tails!" Sonic said, "Let's just pretend

in front of the cameras that you have captured us!"

Espio whispered to Vector, "That will happen soon enough,

when we WON'T have to pretend."

The crocodile nodded for an answer.

Anyway, the whole group agreed to the suggestion, 

and they started to act like they all had handcuffs

in front of the spy cameras.

Everybody except for Metalla, naturally, who was the firm guard,

and except for Espio who simply refused, 

and preferred to keep invincible.

When they had passed, Sonic high-fived everybody.

"Good work!"

Down the corridor, they found another door, 

much bigger than the others. 

Metalla stopped.

"INSIDE HERE IS THE MAIN CONTROL ROOMS, AS WELL AS THE LAB,

PRISON CELLS AND A COUPLE OF ROOMS I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO."

"Do you know if Lisa is in there?"

"DATA UNAVAILABLE."

"Now that anyone mentions missing persons... Where's Knux?"

Mighty said, looking around.

"Damn! I forgot about him! What is he's captured?"

Sonic cursed.

"No way! Knux is too smart for the bolt brains!" Espio said.

"But..." Charmy stammered, "What if he IS captured...?"

Everybody looked worried at each other.

Sonic swallowed. "IF Knuckles is abroad this ship..."

He pointed at the door "He is probably in there."

________________________________

Lisa looked around. She couldn't see much in the dim light.

The robot squad had taken her to a lab, and she had no idea

what the doctor had in mind for her. So, suddenly, she was blinded 

by a gentle green light. She soon recognized it.

"It's my emerald!!"

She tried to break free from the robot's grip, but with no avail.

She couldn't take her eyes from the emerald. It filled her with hope.

She looked down at the emerald she wore around her neck.

It expressed a cold, dark blood-red color. 

She felt bad only knowing it was there.

So, the sound of a door opening up was heard.

Robotnik stepped in, with an evil grin on his face.

"How do you feel now?"

Lisa answered calmly:

"It's none of your business. Why am I here?"

"Think of it. You've got something I want."

"A haircut?" Lisa smiled at the doctor's bold head.

Robotnik became furious and slapped Lisa over her head.

"NO YOU LITTLE PEST! THE POWER TO CONTROL THE EMERALD!!" he yelled.

Lisa lowered her head to recover from the hit.

"Now," Robotnik said, turning to the robots, "What are the results

from my test?"

"THE OBJECT HAVE OUT-RUN THE POWER OF THE DARK EMERALD."

"Very well." Robotnik smirked.

"What have you done?" Lisa asked, in a steady voice, 

still holding her head low.

Instead of answering the question, Robotnik snagged the emerald from 

Lisa's neck and studied her with an evil grin.

Lisa looked up, somewhat confused. Then she started to feel dizzy.

A horrible pain borrowed through her brain and she let out a scream.

She started to realize that she couldn't function normal without the

dark emerald. She tried to breath and focus, 

but her body just didn't let her.

Robotnik laughed, then held the emerald close to her.

Instantly, she could focus and breathe again. 

The pain was gone as well.

"What... did you do to me, you.... Swine?!"

"I just spared your life, I hoped you'd be a little more grateful

than that, Lisa. I'm about you give you an offer you hardly can deny."

"I'd rather DIE than helping you, you son-of-a...."

Robotnik removed the emerald again, and Lisa was gasping for air.

"If you aren't more concerned about your own life than that..."

Robotnik looked at Lisa who was shaking from the pain.

He returned the emerald to her and asked again:

"...Then I suppose you don't care about that guardian

friend of yours either..?"

He pressed a button, and a hologram showing Knuckles appeared.

He looked worse than he had done when she left him.

His eyes were closed, he looked pale and he had dark areas around his eyes.

Lisa felt sick at the sight. 

Especially since she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

Lisa looked at Robotnik, hatred in her eyes.

"Leave him alone, Robotnik. What have he ever done to you?!!"

"More than you can imagine."

Lisa looked at Knuckles again.

"If you hurt him, I swear I'll...!"

"You seem very concerned about the guardian's life.

Too bad I have to end it for him."

He raised his hand to switch off the hologram.

"WAIT!" Lisa suddenly yelled.

Robotnik turned around, smiling wickedly.

Lisa sighed and lowered her head again. Defeated.

"What can I do to save him? I'll do... anything."

________________________________

The gate opened up.

"ACCESS GRANTED."

Sonic, Tails, Mecha-Sonic and the Chaotix entered the dark room.

"Ey, Metal! Could you turn the lights on?"

Sonic asked the robot.

"WHY, OF COURSE."

Metalla pressed a button on his arm, and the lights went on.

Tails flew up to check the area. Charmy did the same.

"No robots anywhere, Sonic." Tails smiled.

"That's funny..." Espio said, concerned.

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"Because all the time while I was waiting for you guys to show up, 

every robo' I saw was quite busy. Like they knew we were coming.

I think Robotnik expected our arrival."

"Then, how come none of the robots show up now? They've got to have

something more important to take care of than us..."

Sonic interrupted himself.

Everyone looked at each other.

"KNUCKLES!!"

"Oh, no! He IS captured! Didn't I tell you??"

Charmy said, totally panicking.

"COOL DOWN, CHARMY!" Mighty shook the bee violently.

"Metalla," Sonic called out, "Begin life search in this area!"

Metalla beeped and hummed then spoke:

"LIFE SEARCH: BEGUN……… PROCESSING......PLEASE WAIT......"

Sonic tapped his foot and looked at his watch impatiently.

The Chaotix looked at the robot with big eyes.

After awhile the robot spoke again:

"LIFE SEARCH RESULTS: OBJECT FOUND."

"Where?!!" Sonic asked

"BEHIND THE THIRD DOOR MARKED WITH AN 'X'."

"It is Knux, right?!!" Mighty asked.

"DATA UNAVAILABLE. CREATURE'S LIFE PULSE IS WEAK, AND FADING."

Sonic ran to the door. "Metalla, you can open this, huh?"

"ACCESS DENIED. I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THAT ROOM."

Mighty looked stubborn.

"Well, I HAVE!!" with those words, Mighty punched the door, 

which broke down.

"Hey, Mighty-man!" Espio was impressed. 

"That door was even larger than the one Metalla had to open!"

Vector said.

"In a crisis-situation, no door is too large!"

Mighty smiled.

The group moved in.

"HEEEEELLOOOOOOO...??" Sonic yelled.

No answer.

Sonic sped into the room, followed by Tails, Mighty, Espio, 

Vector, Charmy and Metalla.

"Can't you put the lights on, Metalla?" Sonic asked.

"I'M SORRY. I CANNOT OPERATE THE LIGHTS IN THIS ROOM."

Then, Tails saw two metal chairs in the corner of the room.

"SOOO-OONIC!!"

Everyone ran to Tails, who pointed at a figure who sat in one 

of the chairs, unconscious and hardly recognizable.

Sonic gasped.

"Knuckles!"

Espio ran up to his buddy and shook him.

"Knuckles! It's Espio, can you hear me?!!"

Espio suddenly realized Knuckles was very cold, and he let go

of the echidna as he stepped backwards pale as a ghost.

"Knu-Knux..??" Espio stammered, without taking his eyes from Knuckles.

He turned to Sonic.

"I... I... I think he's....."

Sonic shook his head. "No way!! I don't believe you!"

Mighty, Charmy and Vector just stared at Knuckles' lifeless body, 

totally shocked. Tails looked like he was about to cry.

Sonic shook his head again. 

"NO! He is not... he's NOT!! I mean... Metalla!"

Sonic turned to his metallic twin.

"Could you take a look... what's wrong with him..?"

Metalla nodded. It revealed a device of some sort, then

used it to scan Knuckles' bio-data.

Tails whimpered. Sonic tried to comfort the little fox 

the best he could. The rest of the Chaotix turned around, 

except Mighty, he couldn't take his eyes from the pale 

sick-looking creature that used to be their leader. 

After what seemed like an eternity, but actually were only seconds,

Mecca-Sonic finally spoke.

"CREATURE ALIVE, BUT BARELY."

"His name is Knuckles." Mighty said.

"VERY WELL, KNUCKLES THEN. MAY I CONTINUE?"

The group nodded.

"THE CRE-- ER, I MEAN KNUCKLES, HAVE BEEN SHOT BY A POISON RIFLE."

"Say what?!!" Sonic stammered.

"YES. THE PROCESS HAVE GONE A LONG WAY, AND IS ALMOST FULLY COMPLETE."

"Are you saying he's--?"

"ALMOST. IN EARLY STAGES, THIS DISASTER COULD'VE BEEN AVOIDED.

BUT, YOUR FRIEND HERE, KNUCKLES, IS NOT ONLY DYING FROM THE POISON,

HE HAS ALSO BEEN AFFECTED BY DARK MAGIC."

"Is it bad?"

"VERY BAD. IT RUSHES THE POISON TO WORK."

Sonic looked at Knuckles.

"Can we get him out of here in time?"

"IN TIME FOR WHAT?"

"Don't be stupid! In time so we can save him of course!"

"I'M AFRAID THAT---"

"HUSH!!" Sonic whispered, looking in Tails' direction.

The little fox was sitting in a corner, crying helplessly.

"There MUST be a way to save him!" Sonic whispered.

"NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF. THE ONLY WAY TO CURE HIM WOULD BE

WITH ROBOTNIK'S CURE POTION, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S LOCATED

IN A DRAWER AT ROBOTNIK'S OFFICE."

"So...? What's the problem?"

"ONLY ROBOTNIK HAS ACCESS TO THE OFFICE."

"AND Mighty!"

"YOUR ARMADILLO FRIEND OVER THERE WOULD BE FRIED

INSTANTLY FROM THE ELECTRIC RIFLES PLACED IN THE CEILINGS."

"Rats." Sonic muttered. He looked at the Chaotix.

They didn't look very well.

"We've GOT to try!"

Metalla shrugged.

"OK, GANG! Let's help Knux!" Sonic called out, 

getting everyone's attention.

"Ya heard what Mr. Scrap Metal said. Knuckles is doomed."

Vector said, rather sad looking.

"He is still alive! We could still save him!"

"No way we can."

"Listen up, croc. I'm NOT abandoning Knuckles.

I'm gonna do everything I can to save him. Is that understood??"

Vector didn't have time to answer, because Sonic continued his speech:

"I'll save him WITH or WITHOUT YOUR HELP!"

Sonic started to unlock Knuckles' handcuffs.

Charmy flew to help. "Me too!" he sniffled.

Espio, Mighty and Tails joined as well.

"Aw, OK. Let's give it a try." Vector sighed.

"BE CAREFUL WHEN MOVING HIM, HE'S..."

"Yeah, we got it, Metalla. Thanx."

After they had gotten Knuckles rid from the chair, the group put 

the guardian on the floor.

"What are we gonna do with him?" Tails asked, still sobbing.

"I don't know..." Sonic sighed.

"Hmm...." Espio thought about something, then he turned to Mecha-Sonic.

"Those laser-rifles you talked about..?"

"YES?"

"How do they work?"

"TEMPERATURE SENSORS."

"Aw, shoot! I thought I could turn invincible and just walk in."

"So, none of us can walk in... The sensors would activate from our

body temperatures, and any furry creature to walk in would be zapped."

Sonic said, trying to find a solution of the problem.

"AHEM!!" Mecha-Sonic said.

"What is it Mecha?" Sonic asked.

"I'M NOT A FURRY CREATURE."

"Right!! You're a robot!! Smart thinking, Metalla!!"

"Wait! What about Knux?" Tails said, still looking at Knuckles.

"Hmm... We can't leave him here... What if someone took him

to a safe place?" Sonic suggested.

"Where?" 

"The prison cells! There weren't any guards there,

as far as I could see." Tails said.

"Yea! Good idea!"

"I'll take him there." Espio said, stepping forward.

"I'll come too, and show the way!" Tails suggested.

"Count me in." Mighty added, "I want to make sure Knux will be OK."

"But Mighty, we'll need your help to open the heavy doors!" Sonic said.

"DO NOT WORRY, SONIC. THE ONLY DOOR WE NEED MIGHTY'S

HELP TO OPEN IS THE ONE OVER THERE." Metalla pointed at a door nearby,

"I WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THE REMAINING DOORS."

"Ok." Sonic nodded to the trio.

Then he turned to the rest of the group: Tails, Charmy, Vector 

and Metalla.

"Let's get that cure thing!!"

"CURE POTION."

"Whatever. Come on!!"

________________________________

Lisa slowly opened her eyes.

She couldn't recognize the room she was in.

She blinked, then stood up.

She raised her left arm. She raised her right arm.

She tried to walk - but it felt so weird.

Like she wasn't in her own body.

Rotating her head, she realized what was wrong.

Her body was metal. The funny thing was - 

She didn't react. She didn't care.

Lisa walked a few steps foward, noticed the laser 

rifle on her left arm and studied it closer.

Suddenly, she saw someone in the back of the room.

She turned around and got ready to fight.

But instead of seeing an enemy, she looked back on her 

own reflection in a mirror, to see herself in a fighting pose.

Lisa took a good look at herself.

Her purple hair and fur had turned into shining metal.

Her eyes were still lime grey, but glowing evilly.

Looking closer, she noticed she was well equipped for combat.

Both of her arms had laser rifles, her fingers were equipped as well, 

and on her back rested a jet pack.

While looking into her new eyes, she didn't notice Dr. Robotnik 

entering.

"I see you're admiring yourself." he smiled.

Lisa was suprised over herself turning around and answer 

the doctor calmly:

"YES MASTER."

Inside of her she was totally panicking.

"(What the heck happened?!)" she thought to herself.

Robotnik turned to the main screen, which was beeping and blinking.

"Yes, Mecha-Knuckles?" 

"MASTER, WE HAVE SPOTTED INTRUDERS IN THE BUILDING."

"Who dares...?!"

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MILES PROWER AND THE GROUP KNOWN AS 'CHAOTIX'."

"Impossible! I saw Metal Sonic take care of them

via the video transmitter!"

"IT COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN MECHA SONIC."

"Why is that?!"

"BECAUSE, SIR... METALLA WAS FOUND OUT OF FUNCTION ONE HOUR AGO.

IT WAS SENT TO THE GARBAGE ROOM."

"Hmmm... Thank you Mecha-Knuckles."

He broke the transmission and turned to Lisa.

"Your magic will come well in handy now,

There are intruders in the building." he said.

"I WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM." Lisa heard herself say.

________________________________

The iron door fell to the floor with a loud sound that could 

be heard for a long distance.

"You know, you could've been a bit quiet..." Sonic glared at Mighty.

Mighty smiled and shrugged as if he was saying: "Whaaaat?"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS" Metalla interrupted.

"Um, right. See ya later guys, I guess..." Mighty said,

then he and Espio picked up Knuckles and carried him away, 

as Tails showed the way.

"We'll come and get you guys later!" Sonic yelled after them.

He turned to the others.

"Hmm...Maybe we should split."

"Whut do ya mean?" Vector mumbeled.

"If you two stay here and keep guard,

me and Metalla can go and get the cure."

"And WHY should I trust you?!" Vector snapped out.

Sonic lost his temper.

"You'll just have to!! This ain't no game!! If we aren't

getting the cure-potion-thing-whatever-it's-called,

Knux will die!! Do you understand?!"

The croc wasn't prepared for sonic's sudden outburst.

"Er..."

Charmy nodded. "We understand, Sonic.

After all, you are the fastest."

"I guess..." Vector said, sulking.

"But hurry up!" Charmy said, looking at his watch.

"No problem, Charmy." Sonic said, 

then he turned to Metalla.

"Ready to go?"

Metalla nodded.

________________________________

The robot zoomed through the halls. 

By no reason, she had started to go through the original 

Lisa's memories. The robot stayed concentrated even when

she went through the really touching memories.

Pictures from a small village somewhere long ago -- memories 

of a bright sun and green grass... memories of apple pie and

fresh orange juice... memories of people who cared about her.

But also memories of dark and cold nights, deep wounds and a memory of

feeling helpless. New memories replaced the old ones.

Suddenly the memory of Sonic came back to her.

His smile, his way to talk... most important, his speed.

The robot stopped for a moment. 

No doubt, this was the hedgehog she was going to capture.

________________________________

"WAIT UP, SONIC." 

Sonic slowed down a bit so the robot could keep up.

"What's the matter, Mecha?" he laughed.

"I AM NOT AS FAST AS YOU."

"Tell me something I don't know!!" 

With those words, Sonic raced ahead of his metallic twin,

leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Metalla catched up again, as Sonic slowed down.

"DO YOU REMEMBER THAT LAST TIME WE RACED AGAINST EACH OTHER

IT WAS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH."

"Yup. Boy, you weren't pretty when I was through with you!"

Metalla sighed.

"I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING OR--"

"Yeah, I know. You were only following orders, I'm sorry."

"THAT IS QUITE ALL RIGHT... WAIT A SECOND."

Metalla stopped, and so did Sonic.

"What is it?"

"THERE IS ANOTHER ROBOT HERE."

"No problem! I'll trash it to bits!"

"I WOULDN'T IF I WERE YOU..."

"Why?"

Before Mecha had answered, Mecha-Lisa stepped out of the 

shadows and pointed her rifle at Sonic.

"DON'T MOVE." Mecha-Lisa said with Lisa's voice,

but it was different, lifeless, even metallic.

"Lisa...?" Sonic half-whispered, shocked.

Sonic was too paralyzed by the sight to avoid the shot 

from Lisa's rifle. It hit him in the stomach.

"SONIC!" Metalla exclaimed.

Sonic fell to the floor and gasped:

"You wouldn't do this Lisa..."

Metal-Lisa remained silent.

"...this ain't you..."

Lisa's eyes glowed.

"...so...this won't hurt you!" Sonic used his last energy to

attack Lisa with a spin attack before he fainted from the pain.

Lisa crashed into a wall, her eyes flickered a couple of 

times before her systems went out.

Metalla ran to Sonic to see if he was OK. 

"LIFE SCAN BEGUN.......PROCESSING....."

Metalla guessed what Sonic had been shot with even before 

the results came up. 

"STATUS: INJURED BY POISON RIFLE."

Metalla sighed and shook it's head.

Then he thought of the robot Sonic had knocked down.

She seemed very familliar... 

Metalla turned around and looked at her.

"LISA..."

Metal Sonic checked through all of it's memory banks.

"LISA....ECHIDNA..?"

Metalla sat down and looked at the fallen robot.

If Sonic had hurt her bad enough, it thought,

she could be out of function for good.

Mecca wiped some of the metallic hair out of her face.

"EVEN THE METAL COLOR IS FAMILLIAR."

It put it's hand on her forehead, ready to read her 

memory when suddenly...

"LISA. LISA ECHIDNA."

Metalla removed it's hand and just looked at the 

robot who's identity it just had revealed.

Then it looked back at Sonic.

"(HE NEEDS MY HELP)" it thought.

It looked at Lisa again.

"(BUT SO DOES SHE)"

Metal Sonic was confused. It couldn't decide.

________________________________

"Be quiet!! Someone's coming!" Tails annunced to Mighty and Espio.

"Robots?" Espio whispered

"I'm not sure... It's so dark."

Now they all heard someone walking in the hall.

"I'll go see who it is." Espio whispered and turned 

invincible before Mighty could stop him.

"WAIT! Espio..." 

Espio quietly sneaked out to see who the intruder was.

He gasped and sneaked back in.

"It's Mecha-Knuckles! Quick, we've gotta..."

"LIFE BEINGS FOUND. PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELVES."

Tails, Mighty and Espio froze on their places.

"NO! Get out of here, Mecha-creep!!" Tails sobbed and stood up.

"Tails, there's no time..." Mighty said, but Mecha-Knuckles 

interrupted him; "DO NOT MOVE. YOU ARE DR. ROBOTNIK'S PRISONERS."

Mighty turned to the others.

"OK guys, this is the plan. I'll trade punches with mecha-Knux here,

while you get Knuckles in safety. Questions? Good. Now GO!!"

Metal Knuckles wasn't prepared for the attack so when Mighty used his 

strength to punch it, mecha went right into the wall.

"GO I said!!" Mighty yelled right before the robot had recovered from 

the hit and gave him a punch right back in the face.

Tails and Espio understood they had no choice even though 

they didn't want to leave Mighty to fight Mecha-Knuckles.

They picked up Knuckles and hurried out of the hall hoping to 

find a safe place where they could figure out what to do next.

Meanwhile, Mighty was fighting Mecha-Knuckles which didn't even seem 

to take any damage from Mighty's punches.

"You are good in combat I see, my friend."

"GIVE UP, PRISONER."

"In your dreams, battery brain!" Mighty chuckled while he nearly 

got blasted by one of Mecha-Knuckles punches.

"(Wait a sec..! Battery! Threre we have it! I'll just have to...)"

Mecha-Knuckles started to shoot at Mighty with it's rifle.

"(OK, this'll be tricky...)"

Just then, Mighty saw something that made his heart beat faster.

An electric wire ran from the roof down to the floor in the 

opposite side of the room.

"(Perfect.)"

He threw himself to the ground to not be zapped my Metal Knuckles'

laser shots, then quickly rolled aside.

He got up and ran, having a hard time dodging Metal Knuckles' shots.

Metal Knuckles boosted off to ram right into Mighty, who now had reached

his goal.

"(but how am I going to do this? If I touch the cable, I'LL be the one

fried!)" Mighty thought, the panic getting closer every second.

"PREPARE TO GET CRUSHED, RODENT!"

Mecha-Knuckles rushed towards Mighty, and solved the problem.

Mighty dodged and Mecha hit the wires.

Mighty watched with a smirk how Mecha-Knuckles was overloaded with 

electricity. It's body shook violently, it's eyes rolled out of sight, 

sparkles was all over it's body...

In other words, it was quite some firework.

"ERROR! ERROR! DOES NOT COMPUTE! SHUT DOWN! SHUT DOWNNNNNNN....!!"

Mecha-Knuckles hit the floor, head and torso smoking.

It's eyes were wide open, but the robotic eyes didn't glow anymore.

Mighty sighed with relief, and started to walk away.

Halfway though the hall, he turned around and ran back to Mecha-Knuckles body.

He rolled the robot over, and used a peice of metal to open the back of it's neck.

After some tinkering, he found what he was looking for, sighed, 

took a last glance at the robot, then took off after his friends.

________________________________

The first thing Sonic saw when he came to was Metalla's red glowing 

eyes looking back at him. 

"PLEASE INFORM ME ON YOUR STATUS."

"Wuh-what?"

"HOW DO YOU.....FEEL?"

"Oh. Well, I'm kinda dizzy, my stomach hurts, and my head's ringing

like a gigant bell, but otherwize, I'm fine."

"GOOD." Metalla paused.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT HIT YOU?"

Sonic sighed.

"I can take a guess. ....the potion gun?"

"POTION RIFL..."

"You catch my drift."

"YES."

Sonic tried to sit up, but the pain in the stomach held him back.

He sighed again.

"So... I'm gonna die too, now?"

"NOT NECESSARILY. YOU WEREN'T AS AFFECTED AS YOUR FRIEND, KNUCKLES."

"Knuckles..." 

Knuckles' name rang in Sonic's head. 

"We've gotta save him!" Sonic once again howled back when the pain 

striked him down.

"WE SHOULD WAIT. YOU ARE YET IN NO POSITION TO MOVE."

"I noticed..." Sonic moaned, looking at his wound.

"Hey... the robot..." he looked around and saw Mecha Lisa's body in a corner.

Metalla shook it's head.

"THAT IS NOT LISA. IT'S A ROBOTIC SHELL; CONTROLLED BY HER THOUGHTS AND INSTINCTS."

"Just WHAT did the big bully DO to her?!"

"ENSLAVED HER MIND. HER REAL BODY IS PROBABLY ELSEWHERE, AND THIS SHELL,"

it motioned at Mecha Lisa, "HAS GOT CONTROL OVER OVER HER MIND."

"Can't we just destroy it?"

"SEE THAT GEM?"

"Yeah."

Sonic saw a lime green light coming from an emerald inbedded in Mecha Lisa's chest.

He instantly recognized it.

"IT'S HER LIFE SOURCE. IT'S CONNECTED TO THE ROBOT."

"So?"

"IF YOU DESTROY THE ROBOT, YOU ALSO KILL HER."

Sonic gulped. Things had taken a nasty turn.


End file.
